Charmed By The Mountain Prince: An Arranged Marriage Romance Read online

  Charmed By The Mountain Prince

  An Arranged Marriage Romance

  Frankie Love

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Wild & True by Frankie love

  Ace by Frankie Love

  JOIN FRANKIE LOVE’S

  MAILING LIST

  AND NEVER MISS A RELEASE!

  Join

  Frankie’s Reader Group

  on Facebook

  for access to exclusive giveaways and contests!

  Edited by Larks and Katydids

  Cover by Mayhem Cover Creations

  Copyright © 2016 by Frankie Love

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  As far as I can tell from movies and books, being a princess is the pinnacle of most girls’ childhood fantasies. I get it.

  There’s a lot about being a princess that’s pretty damn sweet.

  For example, the title: Princess. And the crown jewels. I mean, put a tiara on any woman’s head and she’s going to look ten times hotter. That’s not even a question. Diamonds literally are a girl’s best friend.

  But there are a lot of other things about being a princess that aren’t so cush. Especially when you’re a princess in a country that’s virtually bankrupt.

  Because the truth is, I’ve never had a place to wear said tiara. There aren’t any balls or galas to go to—mostly because Father sold the private jet a decade ago, and his foolish spending has kept us under lock and key. In fact, I’ve been stuck on the island of Elexia my entire life.

  And all I want in the whole wide world is a chance to explore. I want to travel to exotic lands and experience different cultures and take in everything this planet has to offer.

  Instead, I’m here in this provincial country, surrounded by oceans.

  I know, boohoo. The princess doesn’t get to leave her majestic tropical island where palm trees sway in the salty breeze and fresh fish is caught for an outdoor supper.

  And I’m grateful, I truly am—but still, I want to see something. Anything. Here in Elexia, I can’t really work to pay for a plane ticket to a new locale. I’m a princess and my life is not my own.

  So I’m stuck staring at my Instagram feed, because it allows me to imagine a life bigger than the one I have.

  I follow travel bloggers hiking across Morocco or backpacking through Europe. I imagine a life that’s more than the selfies I take at the same beach year after year, attempting to make my life look more exciting than it really is.

  When Father calls my sisters and me into the throne room, I know something big is about to happen. My life is finally going to start.

  Which is good. I want a reason to live somewhere besides my virtual reality on the Internet. I want a reason to delete a dozen apps and go all in with something new.

  So here we stand in the throne room—and honestly, this room really needs a new title. My sister Dahlia has reupholstered the cushion on that throne a thousand times and polished it with her own spit, to no avail. It still looks old, and not in a cute, shabby chic way. This throne room is just plain old dingy.

  Not that it matters. No one is coming to Elexia to see my father. He isn’t exactly a political force to be reckoned with. He’s more like a nice, slightly stressed man who’s pretty much in over his head.

  The only person who ever comes around this place is Gibraltar, my cousin, who will inherit the crown after my father dies. My sister Violet has a stick up her rear, but Gibraltar is a whole other level of insufferable. At least Violet helps people, and looks out for everyone else. Gibraltar though ...

  I don’t even know why I’m talking about him. I’m just grateful royalty stopped marrying their cousins a hundred years ago. I may be desperate for a ticket out of here, but it certainly will not be as Gibraltar’s bride.

  So when Father gathers us together, and tells us that we have the ability to save our poor impoverished country, I’m all ears. I’m ready for some freaking excitement, something that has a wider scope than my cell phone camera.

  I pocket my phone, not that I have anything interesting to Snapchat anyways, and look at my father.

  This poor man has been through the wringer. I mean not having a single son born to you, when you’re a freaking king, is terrible. I honestly feel bad for the guy.

  So here he is calling in his three daughters with big news. A Cheshire cat grin spreads across his face and for a moment I think maybe something good is finally going to happen to our family.

  My older sister, Violet—she deserves the world. She literally hands out soup to the hungry, and blankets to those without. And Dahlia? She’s so completely innocent, and I want her to stay that way, even though she would be content twirling around on the sandy beach, eating fruit from nearby trees, and daydreaming of her nowhere-to-be-found Prince Charming.

  Which makes me look like the girl who has screwy priorities—but I like to say I’m just misunderstood. Because for all of Violet’s helping, and all the gentleness Dahlia doles out, I’m the one who has always wanted more.

  When I was six years old, I tried to run away. I packed my knapsack and tried to go, only to learn I was living on an island. And that I wasn’t going anywhere. Ever.

  I cried for days.

  I remember my mother sitting me down and explaining that it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to have a home.

  And I remember looking into her pensive eyes and telling her that for me, a girl who wanted to fly, having clipped wings was unbearable.

  She held me, nodded sadly, as if she knew.

  And maybe she did. She was once a Princess too.

  For some women, being a Princess is enough. For me, though, I’d give it all up if it meant I could soar.

  My sisters just thought I was a brat for trying to run away. They never understood what it felt like to be tethered to a place you wanted to leave.

  “How can I help, father?” Dahlia asks. “I’m just a princess.”

  I can practically hear Violet roll her eyes. Those words just a princess grate on her more than any other phrase.

  “Marriage,” my father explains. “The plan for you, my daughters, is to enter into arranged marriages to Princes in other countries in exchange for dowries that will replenish Elexia’s momentary monetary deficit.”

  I blink, thanking my lucky stars.

  FINALLY, PEOPLE.

  As my father announces that the recklessly handsome Prince Hunter is going to be Violet’s husband, my older sister sinks to the floor. Dahlia will marry the agreeable Prince Lucas, and of course she has only one reaction: selflessness. She’s on the floor consoling Violet.

  I haven’t even heard who my husband will be, but already this is the best news I’ve heard all year.

  All decade.

  I’m getti
ng the heck out of dodge.

  I want more. And yes, I know I sound like a VHS recording of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But is that the worst thing in the world, to want more than this water-locked island has to offer? Because I feel like I’m drifting in a circle, like I haven’t started my life, and all I see when I look at social media on my stupid phone is a big, bright world waiting for me.

  I want in on it.

  “And who am I to marry?” I ask tentatively. My fingers are already wrapped around my cell phone; I’m ready to Google the shit out of whoever he says is my royal ticket out of here.

  “You’ll be marrying Prince Garrick of Alpinweiss,” my father says, holding up his hand. “And before you put up a fuss, Iris, let me explain. His family is incredibly wealthy. The country of Alpinweiss is an abundant land, full of natural resources and a military that has kept them front and center in international negotiations. And while Garrick is known for being a bit of a recluse—he hasn’t shown his face in the public sector for years, but...”

  I tune out the rest of his words. Because literally none of them matter.

  The country of Alpinweiss is abundant. That translates to the more I’m looking for. The more I’ve been dreaming about.

  I wrap my arms around Father, never having been so excited in my entire life.

  I am going to marry a prince.

  I am leaving Elexia, finally!

  I’ve never dreamed of finding Prince Charming ... but I think my own happily ever after fantasy is just about to come true.

  2

  Oh, hell no.

  Look, my parents have been running potential wife options by me for the last two fucking years. I’ve vetoed every last one of them. I’m not opposed to marriage—of course not. I want a woman to keep me warm just like the next man, but I’m not interested in a woman who doesn’t understand a mountain prince like me.

  Alpinweiss is a country full of money. We’re rich for one motherfucking reason: we’re not idiots. Though I tend to think the people my parents surround themselves with are a bunch of fucking jokes, always holding their heads high like they’re better than everyone else, never thinking about the common man who needs a leg up.

  That’s why I live like I do. I don’t think just because I have a title I should have any special privileges.

  “We told you after you nixed the last princess we found that the next time we found a viable option, we were agreeing to it with or without your consent. Remember?” my father says.

  I swing my axe into the final log, chopping it into a good size for my wood-burning stove. I remember the conversation from last month, clear as the crisp morning air. My parents aren’t forcing me ... hell, I forced this upon myself for taking so damn long to make up my mind. I knew this day was going to come.

  “So, Son,” my mother says, “we found a princess whose father will actually send his daughter out here, to you, in the middle of nowhere—though of course we didn’t detail the state of your housing.”

  Mother looks around my property: the cabin I built with my hands, the thick forest around us. As far from the Historic Village of Alpinweiss as I could get without leaving the village altogether.

  Only thing worse than being in that town, filled with cobblestone roads and horse-drawn carriages, and so many fucking tourists gawking at our “quaint town,” is going over the mountains into the big cities of Alpinweiss.

  “It’s a rare king desperate enough to send his daughter off to marry a man like you. But we need an heir.” My mother crosses her arms, her fingers tapping over her elbow. Her face is stern, and written with annoyance. She has no patience for my life choices.

  “So what’s wrong with this girl if her dad is so desperate he’ll send her to the crazy man who lives in the woods?” I scoff, dusting the dirt off my palms.

  I live out in the woods and make no apologies for that. Most princesses are used to marble-floored castles, servants waiting on them hand and foot, and balls where they wear glass fucking slippers.

  That is not the life a princess is going to get with me. I moved out of my parents’ “house” as soon as I could.

  “Nothing is wrong with her, per se,” my mother continues. “In fact, she comes across as quite amiable.”

  “You met her?” I shake my head and drop the axe onto the tree stump.

  My parents came out here to my cabin today to break the news. I live here because I like to keep an eye on things in the forest, and that’s hard to do that when you’re up at the main estate. Well, I guess you could call it the main castle. Our historic castle looks more Winterfell than Casterly Rock, if you want to get all Game of Thrones about it.

  And yes, I’ve read the books, and no I haven’t watched the show, because I don’t have a goddamned television.

  Still, the castle is a castle. Electricity, internet, washing machines—and beyond those basics, it has top-of-the-line everything.

  I avoid the tourists like the plague. They’re just as bad as the dignitaries working the room at every royal function.

  Hence, my cabin in the woods.

  “We haven’t met her, but she does love to post photos of her life on Instagram. She’s just beautiful. Love,” she says to my father, “explain to him who his princess bride is.”

  My father nods and continues. “Her name is Iris and she has the, ahem, requirements of a princess.”

  Requirements is my father’s delicate way of saying she’s a virgin. Which to my parents is an important aspect of this dowry they are offering.

  Not that I mind. A virginal princess is an instant hard-on no matter how rough and rugged a man lives.

  “Okay,” I say. “So this pure princess, where does she come from?”

  “She comes from... Elexia,” my mother says. She immediately drops her eyes to the ground, knowing I’m not going to like this answer.

  “Are you kidding me?” I snort. This is a goddamned joke. “I bet she’s never even set foot in the mountains. Does she even own a pair of boots? Or know how to snow ski? No way in hell is this going to work. Good try, though.” I shake my head again, grabbing my axe from the stump and walking toward my cabin door.

  “It’s not a choice. It’s happening, Garrick. I paid the dowry.” My father’s words stop me in my tracks. “A double dowry.”

  “This is really happening?”

  “It’s really happening, Garrick,” my mother says, reaching for my hand. “I want a grandbaby. Your father needs an heir. We’re not doing this to be mean... We’re doing it because we love you. It’s time you settled down.”

  I tense, running my hand over my beard, knowing that my parents have been lenient with me my entire life, looking the other way when I took a barmaid to bed or a ranch girl to the stables. That’s all about to change. “You’re setting this girl up to fail; you know that, right?”

  “Oh, just turn on the charm, Garrick,” my mother says snidely.

  There are a few things that anyone who knows me at all knows: I don’t do BS, I don’t pretend, I am what I am, and you get what you get.

  “When is she coming?” I ask.

  “Tomorrow. Elexia has really put themselves in a financial bind, as I’m sure you know.” Mother grimaces, knowing I’m like my father in a lot of ways. I read as much information as I can about the state of the world economy.

  I understand my family obligations; I just avoid the castle like the plague. If my father has a job for me, I’ll do it. He keeps hinting that I could be the royal ambassador, but hell, I don’t want to travel around the fucking world all alone meeting a bunch of leaders who are as dull as my parents’ friends.

  “This is really the best you could do?” I ask.

  “Well,” Father says, “you did veto the last eight viable princesses, Garrick. You did this to yourself.”

  “No big wedding,” I insist. “I’ll show up and do my duty, but I will not participate in some parade around Historic Alpinweiss. Understood?”

  Mother frowns, but nods. “Underst
ood. We can have a private ceremony with just us. I do wish you’d let us show you off though.”

  “No show,” I reinforce. “I’m not some circus act.” I’d rather have a pint with men at a pub than drink champagne with people who don’t know how to get their hands dirty.

  My father shakes his head. “Nothing is ever easy with you, Garrick.”

  “Not easy?” I jeer. “I require so little. I’m here in this cabin, not bothering a goddamned soul.”

  “But you’re the prince, Garrick,” Mother moans. “You have a royal duty to the people.”

  I wince. I don’t mind getting married; if this is what my family needs, that’s what I’ll do. I won’t shirk my responsibility. Not today, not ever.

  “I don’t need to live in the castle to prove I’m a prince.”

  “I’m not sure Iris is going to understand that,” my mother adds, looking over my shoulder at my one-room cabin.

  “She’s going to have to find a way to wrap her mind around my life. I live outside of town for a reason. It keeps me grounded, keeps my priorities straight. I can do whatever the country asks of me without being waited on hand and foot. I don’t need hot water in this cabin to prove I care about my country.”

  My parents exchange a look, like they’re in on something I don’t know.

  “What?”

  My father claps me on the back. “Marriage is a steep learning curve, son.”

  “Be easy on Iris, is what we’re trying to say,” my mother adds. “She’s from a tropical island. This is going to be a culture shock—and remember, this is an arranged marriage for her as well.”

  I nod, wondering about this woman they are sending me. A tropical fucking island? There’s no way in living hell she’s going to be able to handle a mountain prince like me.

  3

  For the next week I alternate between giddy excitement and nervous energy. Basically, I’m a helium balloon with no intention of bursting. I am thrilled to the max.